Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
by ApollaCammi
Summary: Addex as seen through the eyes of Mark Sloan. Pre 3.21 Desire. Mark realizes that in order to save himself from getting burned, he's got to end the charade. First in the Dreaming with a Broken Heart arc.


**Slow Dancing In A Burning Room**

An Addex fic as seen through the eyes of Mark Sloan. Written before 3.21 Desire aired, follows some of the same plotlines but Alex is a nicer guy in this one. This story is dedicated to my sister, KittKatt001, and the title is her favourite John Mayer song. Enjoy!

By the way, I read a really good story a while ago where Meredith had married Mark at eighteen and then they got divorced after only a few months and when he came to Seattle to see Addison they discovered how all four of them were connected (His and her dirty mistresses, I think the term was). If anyone can point me in the direction of this story, I would greatly appreciate it.

* * *

He'd thought for a while that he wasn't the only one fighting for Addison. She was distracted, her thoughts centered somewhere else until he drew her attention to him. It was irritating, nothing more. He was Mark Sloan, and he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was Addison.

Mark thought about who this mystery man might be, in order to warn him off, Still, the only men she seemed to be around were Derek, himself, and Alex Karev. He considered the intern a possibility but later he heard Grey and Yang talking about the fact that he was seeing someone in oncology and he relaxed.

The pact was going well, 32 days in. Instead of sex, he was talking to Addison, and learning all sort of interesting tidbits. The quints' parents sent her a card every birthday and Christmas. Her favourite TV show was Las Vegas, she was allergic to carrots, and, whatever she pretended, she was a sucker for a happy ending. It was almost like dating.

They didn't talk about Derek, Meredith, or those weeks in New York before she'd come to Seattle. Clean slates all around.

* * *

39 days in, he thought they had a chance.

42 days in, he knew they were over. He'd just finished a reconstructive surgery on a 25 year old woman who'd had her face bashed in by her boyfriend, and he was congratulating himself on a job well done when he heard voices from inside the supply closet he was walking by.

"-said I was sorry!"  
"That doesn't cut it. You led me to believe you weren't interested."  
"Addison-"  
"What was I supposed to do? Just _know_ you meant the opposite of what you said?"  
"One chance. You owe us that at least."  
"Alex-"  
"Remember the kiss? The jump for joy, never want it to end, shout it out to the world kiss? The _fireworks_? There was something there; you can't tell me there wasn't. Don't you want to find out what it was?"  
"Mark and I have a deal-"  
"You and _Sloan_? God, Addison-"  
"Sixty days without sex and we give dating a real try!" she overrode his protests.  
"What day are you on?" Alex asked, sounding defeated.  
"Forty two."  
"Good luck with the plastics god," Alex said sarcastically.

Mark started backing up, and by the time Karev was out the door, he was looking over charts at the nurses' station. Karev didn't give him a second glance. Addison came out a few minutes later, and he saw the obscure hurt in her eyes and the slight redness around her nose that meant she'd been crying. She saw him and smiled weakly, making his chest constrict. He couldn't believe what he was thinking.

* * *

He had to test his theory first, so days 43 and 44 were spent torturing Karev. Mark requested him as his intern and then made sure to bump into Addison as often as possible, leaning a little too close when she was speaking, letting his fingers graze hers, smiling and teasing. Karev looked ready to commit murder. The younger man also kept looking at Addison, begging her to reconsider the insane sixty days no sex bet. And if Mark went overboard with teasing Addison, cutting a little to close to the bone, Karev jumped in, focusing Mark's attention on him so Mark would leave Addison alone. It reminded him of the vanilla latte incident a few months before.

Mark paused at that thought. It couldn't have been that long, could it? But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Why else would Addison take Karev back on her service so quickly? And Karev never complaining about being back on the gynie squad – It was like finding that one puzzle piece that made everything fit together perfectly. He saw, too, that if he was making subtle physical contact with Addison, she and Karev were exchanging looks with so many layers he couldn't even begin to decipher them all.

So on day 45, Mark made the easiest decision of his life involving Addison Montgomery. He was, after all, man enough to admit when he was outclassed, outplayed and outmaneuvered.


End file.
